Electrical Engineering Shines in New U.S. News & World Report Rankings

NC State’s graduate Electrical Engineering program now ranks #33 in the nation in the latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

Electrical engineering at NC State is once again one of the top programs in the nation, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. The graduate Electrical Engineering (EE) program now ranks #33 in the nation among public and private institutions, moving up two spots from last year’s ranking. When compared to other public universities, EE’s graduate program is particularly strong at #20.

“We are pleased to see our EE ranking continue to improve, and this is a testament to the high impact work we are doing across many technology areas,” said Department Head Veena Misra. “More broadly, this ranking reflects the strength of the department’s multidisciplinary approach to educating the next generation of electrical and computer engineers.”

This latest ranking highlights the strength of the EE graduate program in providing the highest quality education for those who want to advance their careers, be it in industry or research. Students graduate with the analytical, technical and engineering skills needed to work in fields like power electronics, power systems, nanoelectronics, photonics, communications, controls and robotics, signal processing and machine learning.

A key point of distinction for the electrical engineering graduate program? Its close involvement with the Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (CLAWS) Microelectronics Commons Hub, led by NC State. The regional innovation hub works to improve and innovate in the field of wide bandgap semiconductors, which offer greater voltage and temperature capacity than traditional silicon chips. At CLAWS, top-tier teaching and research talent, regional experts, industry partners and graduate students work together to improve this critical technology, thus increasing domestic production and employment.

Recent notable rankings include:

• #5 in the world for Electrical Engineering (ShangaiRanking, 2024) 
• #6 in the nation for online M.S. in Electrical Engineering (U.S. News, 2025); a rise from #11 in 2023 and #8 in 2024
• #3 in the nation for online M.S. in Electrical Engineering (ZDNet, 2022)

For more on the department’s graduate programs, visit: https://ece.ncsu.edu/grad/